Nearly 26% Think This Ross Moment On Friends Went Too Far

On NBC's hit sitcom "Friends," bad luck seemed to befall Ross Geller (David Schwimmer) far more often than it did the rest of the famous sextet. From his wife leaving him for another woman to getting assaulted by a tanning booth, misfortune was Ross' near-constant shadow. For the karma-minded, all the mishaps Ross experienced might be cosmic justice for some of his worst behavior. And over the course of 10 seasons, the elder Geller sibling did some really awful things. In fact, his deviant ways began way back in high school when he formed the "I Hate Rachel Green Club," which spread a false rumor that Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) was a hermaphrodite.

Recently, Looper conducted a survey asking participants to select the Ross moment that went too far. A total of 636 Americans responded to the survey, and their selections highlight some of the worst (and funniest) times Ross crossed the line.

According to 10.22% of respondents, the worst thing Ross did on the series was failing to annul his spur-of-the-moment marriage to Rachel after the two drunkenly tied the knot in Las Vegas. Not only did he not get the annulment, he actually lied to Rachel and claimed he did. For Ross, his reluctance to annul was due to the fact that he'd already had two failed marriages. Of course, when he explains his reasoning to Rachel, she tells him that theirs isn't a marriage; it's the world's worst hangover. While Ross does eventually agree to an annulment, secretly staying married to someone is not appropriate behavior.

Next on the list, with 13.21% of the vote, is the time Ross overreacted to his son Ben playing with a Barbie doll. Over the course of the episode, Ross attempts to bribe the toddler with toys stereotypically geared towards boys. While the gag was good for a few laughs, the storyline is part of a larger problem with the series. Despite its New York City setting, "Friends" had very little LGBTQ+ representation. Critics will also point to numerous homophobic and transphobic "Friends" jokes throughout the show's 10 seasons. This moment doesn't help the cultural legacy of "Friends."

The next moment on the list, which captured 15.41% of the vote, occurred in the last seconds of Season 4's finale and had viewers sharing a collective gasp with the characters. We are, of course, talking about when Ross said the wrong name at his wedding to Emily (Helen Baxendale). While no one denies how mortifying the moment must have been for Emily, this Ross moment was really an accident, a slip of the tongue, not a planned or purposeful wrong deed. That said, it clearly rubbed viewers the wrong way.

With 16.98% of the vote, the next Ross moment that went too far was very much not an accident. Over the course of the series, Ross and Rachel were television's favorite on-again, off-again couple. Unfortunately, whenever the two decided to be on-again, Ross was already in a relationship. He was dating Julie (Lauren Tom) when he kissed Rachel for the first time. Ross was dating Bonnie (Christine Taylor) when he decided to get back with Rachel. Though not a technical infidelity, Ross remained friends with Rachel, despite telling his wife Emily that he had cut her out of his life. While we're thrilled Ross and Rachel always found a way back together, Ross should have been much more honest with his girlfriends.

The top two vote-getters both involve Ross engaging in some highly taboo behavior. In second place, with 18.40% of the vote, is Ross' relationship with Elizabeth (Alexandra Holden). Respondents likely took issue with the couple's 12-year age difference, which was made worse by the fact that Ross was Elizabeth's professor at New York University. Not surprisingly, the university prohibited such relationships because, as we know, the power dynamic between a teacher and student is extremely lop-sided. If Ross was looking for love, he should have stayed away from the student body's student bodies.

With a whopping 25.79%, the Ross moment most respondents felt went too far is when Ross, once again, looked for love in the wrong place. In the Season 7, Episode 19, "The One With Ross and Monica's Cousin," Denise Richards makes a guest appearance playing the Gellers' cousin, Cassie. Though initially staying with Monica (Courteney Cox) and Chandler (Matthew Perry), Cassie is forced to relocate after Chandler becomes a bit too enthralled by his fiance's cousin. The solution seemed simple enough: Cassie would instead stay with Ross.

While the two are on the couch watching a movie, Ross, who is going through an extended dry spell, completely misreads Cassie's signals and leans in for a kiss, which Cassie immediately rejects. If the incestuous situation wasn't awkward enough, Ross heightened the discomfort when he tried to explain his behavior. Should anyone find themselves at a loss for words after trying to kiss their cousin, please learn from Ross Geller and don't say, "I haven't had sex in a very long time."